BPA notes, 4th sem, Social change,full notes

Study note prepared by PADAM NEPAL
BPA-4TH
SEM, social change full notes, public administration, PAC,TU
Contents
CONCEPT..................................................................................................................................2
Meaning of Social Change: ........................................................................................................2
Defining Social Change:............................................................................................................. 2
Characteristics of Social Change: ...................................................................................................4
Factors of Social Change in Society ................................................................................................ 8
Social Process:............................................................................................................................ 11
CONFLICT THEORY...................................................................................................................... 12
Evolutionary Theories................................................................................................................. 15
Types..................................................................................................................................... 16
Criticism................................................................................................................................. 17
Cyclical Theory:.......................................................................................................................... 17

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CONCEPT
Social change, in sociology, the alteration of mechanisms within the social structure,
characterized by changes in cultural symbols, rules of behaviour, social organizations, or
value systems
Meaning of Social Change:
Change implies all variations in human societies. When changes occur in the modes of living
of individuals and social relation gets influenced, such changes are called social changes.
Social change refers to the modifications which take place in life pattern of people.Hence,
social change would mean observable differences in any social phenomena over any period
of time.
Social change is the change in society and society is a web of social relationships. Hence,
social change is a change in social relationships. Social relationships are social processes,
social patterns and social interactions. These include the mutual activities and relations of the
various parts of the society.
Social change may be defined as changes in the social organization, that is, the structure and
functions of the society.
Theorists of social change agree that in most concrete sense of the word ‘change’, every
social system is changing all the time. The composition of the population changes through the
life cycle and thus the occupation or roles changes; the members of society undergo
physiological changes; the continuing interactions among member modify attitudes and
expectations; new knowledge is constantly being gained and transmitted.
Defining Social Change:
According to Jones “Social change is a term used to describe variations in, or modifications
of any aspect of social processes, social patterns, social interaction or social organization”.
As Kingsley Davis says, “By Social change is meant only such alternations as occur in social
organization – that is, the structure and functions of society”.

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According to Maclver and Page, “Social change refers to a process responsive to many types
of changes; to changes the man in made condition of life; to changes in the attitudes and
beliefs of men, and to the changes that go beyond the human control to the biological and the
physical nature of things”.
Morris Ginsberg defines, “By social change, I understand a change in social structure, e.g.,
the size of the society, the composition or the balance of its parts or the type of its
organization”.
P. Fairchild defines social change as “variations or modifications in any aspects of social
process, pattern or form.
B. Kuppuswamy says, “Social change may be defined as the process in which is discernible
significant alternation in the structure and functioning of a particular social system”.
H.M. Johnson says, “Social change is either change in the structure or quasi- structural
aspects of a system of change in the relative importance of coexisting structural pattern”.
According to M.D. Jenson, “Social change may be defined as modification in ways of doing
and thinking of people.
As H.T. Mazumdar says, “Social change may be defined as a new fashion or mode, either
modifying or replacing the old, in the life of people or in the operation of a society”.
According Gillin and Gillin, “Social changes are variations from the accepted modes of life;
whether due to alternation in geographical conditions, in cultural equipment, composition of
the population or ideologies and brought about by diffusion, or inventions within the group.
Merrill and Eldredge. “Social change means that large number of persons are engaging in
activities that differ from those which they or their immediate forefathers engaged in some
time before.”
Lundberg and others. “Social change refers to any modification in established patterns of
inter human relationships and standards of conduct.”
Anderson and Parker. “Social change involves alteration in the structure or functioning of
social forms or processes themselves.”

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By analyzing all the definitions mentioned above, we reach at the conclusion that the two
type of changes should be treated as two facts of the same social phenomenon. Two type of
changes are e.g.
(i) changes in the structure of society,
(ii) changes in the values and social norms which bind the people together and help to
maintain social order.
These two type of changes should not, however, be treated separately because a change in
one automatically induces changes in the other.
Thus it may be concluded that social change refers to the modifications which take place in
the life patterns of people. It does not refer to all the changes going on in the society. The
changes in art, language, technology; philosophy etc., may not be included in the term ‘Social
change’ which should be interpreted in a narrow sense to mean alterations in the field of
social relationships.
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CharacteristicsofSocialChange:
The phenomenon of social change is not simple but complex. It is difficult to understand this
in its entirety. To understand social change well, we have to analyze the nature of social
change.
1. Social change is community change:
Society is a “web of social relationships” and hence social change obviously means a change
in the system of social relationships. Social change does not refer to the change in the life of
an individual or the life patterns of several individuals. It is a change which occurs in the life
of the entire community. In other words, only that change can be called social change whose
influence can be felt in a community form.

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2. Social change is a universal phenomenon:
Social change occurs in all societies. No society remains completely static. Each society, no
matter how traditional and conservative, is constantly undergoing change. Speed and extent
of change may differ from society to society. Some change rapidly, others change slowly.
3. Social Change occurs as an Essential law:
Social change occurs as an essential law:. Social change may occur either in the natural
course or as a result of planned efforts. By nature we desire change. Our needs keep on
changing. To satisfy our desire for change and our changing needs social change becomes a
necessity
4. Social Change is Continuous:
Society is a system of social relationship. But these social relationships are never permanent.
They are subject to change.Society is an ever-changing phenomenon. It is undergoing endless
changes. It is an “ongoing process”. These changes cannot be stopped. Society is subject to
continuous change. Here it grows and decays, there it finds renewal, accommodates itself to
various changing conditions.
5. Social Change Involves No-Value Judgement:
Social change is neither moral nor immoral, it is amoral. The question of “what ought to be”
is beyond the nature of social change. The study of social change involves no-value
judgement. It is ethically neutral.
6. Social Change is bound by Time Factors:
Social change is temporal. It happens through time, because society exists only as a time-
sequences. We know its meaning fully only by understanding it through time factors. The
reason is that the factors which cause social change do not remain uniform with the changes
in time .Social change may be Short-term and Long-term Change. The conceptualization of
the magnitude of change involves the next attribute of change, the time span. That is to say, a
change that may be classified as ‘small-scale from a short-term perspective may turn out to
have large-scale consequences when viewed over a long period of time.
7. Speed of social change:
Speed of social change is not uniform and speed of social change is affected by and related to
time factor. While social change occurs in all societies, the rate, tempo, speed and extent of
change is not uniform In most societies it occurs so slowly that it is often not noticed by those
who live in them. Social change in urban areas is faster than in rural areas.

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8. Definite prediction of social change is not possible:
It is difficult to make any prediction about the exact forms of social change. There is no
inherent law of social change according to which it would assume definite forms. Likewise it
cannot be predicted as to what shall be our attitudes, ideas, norms and values in future.
9. Social change shows chain-reaction sequence:
A society’s pattern of living is a dynamic system of inter-related parts. Therefore, change in
one of these parts usually reacts on others and those on additional ones until they bring a
change in the whole mode of life of many people.
10. Social change results from the interaction of a number of factors:
As a matter of fact, social change is the consequence of a number of factors. A special factor
may trigger a change but it is always associated with other factors that make the triggering
possible.The reason is that social phenomena are mutually interdependent. None stand out as
isolated forces that bring about change of themselves. Rather each is an element in a system.
11. Social changes may be considered as modifications or replacement:
Social changes may be broadly categorised as modifications or replacements. It may be
modification of physical goods or social relationships.There may also be modifications of
social relationships.
Change also takes the form of replacement. A new material or non-material form supplants
an old one .Similarly, old ideas have been replaced by new ideas
12. Social Change may be Small-scale or Large-scale:
A line of distinction is drawn between small-scale and large scale social change. Small-scale
change refers to changes within groups and organizations rather than societies, culture or
civilization. According W.E. Moore, by small-scale changes we shall mean changes in the
characteristics of social structures that though comprised within the general system
identifiable as a society, do not have any immediate and major consequences for the
generalised structure (society) as such.

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13. Social Change may be Peaceful or Violent:
At times, the attribute ‘peaceful’ has been considered as practically synonymous with
‘gradual’ and ‘violent’ with ‘rapid’. The term ‘violence’ frequently refers to the threat or use
of physical force involved in attaining a given change.
‘Peaceful’ has to do with the changes that take place by consent, acceptance or acquisition
and that are enforced by the normative restraints of society.
14. Social Change may be Planned or Unplanned:
Social change may occur in the natural course or it is done by man deliberately. Unplanned
change refers to change resulting from natural calamities.,
Planned social change occurs when social changes are conditioned by human engineering.
Plans, programmes and projects are made by man in order to determine and control the
direction of social change.
15. Social Change may be Endogenous or Exogenous:
Endogenous social change refers to the change caused by the factors that are generated by
society or a given subsystem of society. Conflict, communication, regionalism etc. are some
of the examples of endogenous social change.
On the other hand, exogenous sources of social change generally view society as a basically
stable, well-integrated system that is disrupted or altered only by the impact of forces external
to the system .
Although no hard and fast categories have yet been developed into which we can fit different
types of change, the use of the foregoing distinctions, may be helpful in clarifying one’s
conceptualization of any type of change or at least, they can help one to understand the
complexities involved in developing a definition of the subject of social change

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Factors ofSocialChange in Society
Some of the most important Factors of Social Change are as follows:
Physical or Social Environment
Demographic Factor
Cultural Factor
Ideational Factor
Economic Factor
Political Factor
1) Physical or Social Environment:
The geographical changes are one of the primary factors of Social Change. The physical or
natural forces both works in unifying or disintegrating the form of the society. Our society
can get disrupted by natural phenomenon like storms, flood, drought etc. These physical or
natural factors can create havoc in the social life on an individual.
2) Demographic Factor:
The demographic factor influences the nature of the social change. The population, however
much it is, brings social problems. The population of a society rises when the birth-rate
exceed the death rate and vice versa. The rising of the population has consequences like
poverty, unemployment and other related problems.
On the other note, low birth rate signifies the decrease in the size of the population. There are
critical consequences here as well. The low population signifies, only a handful of potential
skilled workers are available in the country/society.
Furthermore, social change climbs with the sex ratio too. In a society, if there are women
more than man then the system of polygamy might encounter; if there are more men than
women then polyandry is expected to take place.
3) Cultural Factor:
Social systems are directly or indirectly the creations of cultural values. Any change in values
or belief systems on the part of social group affects social institutions.. Social change occurs
through cultural contact between different societies. Diffusion is an important mechanism of
social change through which one society adopts the cultural traits of another. The cultural
factors also play a role in bringing about social change. Our social life depends upon our

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beliefs, ideas, values, customs, conventions, institutions and the like. When there is a change
in these, it influences the social life. Today we find the influences of western culture in
almost all aspects of our life-food, dress, manners, education, literature, so on and so forth.
We can include values, beliefs, ideas, institutions into cultural elements of sociology. They
all involve social change. There are two major aspects of cultural change:
Cultural change by discovery and invention, and
Cultural change by diffusion and borrowing.
Cultural lag refers to this delay between the initial social change and the resulting social
change.
Impact of ideas and Ideologies Factor:
Ideas and ideologies have been responsible to social change. Main ideas like liberty, equality,
and fraternity, the world famous revolution was brought by ideas during France revolution in
1789. There were other revolutions like such revolutions brought a great change in their
societies.
Ideologies like fascism, democracy, communism, socialism, humanism etc. have a very
powerful influence on the changing pattern of the society.
Economic Factor:
Of economic influences, the most far-reaching is the impact of industrialisation. It has
revolutionised the whole way of life, institutions, organisations and community life. In
traditional production systems, levels of production were fairly static since they were geared
to habitual, customary needs. Modern industrial capitalism promotes the constant revision of
the technology of production, a process into which science is increasingly drawn.
The impact of industrialisation (science and technology) we can easily see on Indian family
system (joint family) and caste system. (For detailed analysis of the influence of economic
factor, see Marx’s views discussed in Economic Theory of Social Change).
6) Political Factor:
As we know, the political organization has the most power in the country. It can amend laws,
repeal the old laws in case of emergency and make brand new laws.
Some of the laws which have an impact on the Social Change in society are child marriage,
divorce, inheritance, succession, widow remarriage, untouchability etc. They brought a huge
change in the social structure of a society. Politics play a vital role in bringing social change.
The state and central government change the rules, regulations for the people in order to
change the social pattern. Different political parties with their ideologies bring a social
change throughout the country.
Women empowerment, violation on women, prohibition on child marriage, reduction on
child labour, educational system etc. passed in the legislation bring a social change.

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Scientific and Technological Factors:
Advancement of science and technologies has brought a revolutionary change almost in all
societies of the world. The development of these techniques depends on inventions and
discoveries.
Discovery of steam power, petrol, electricity, invention of wireless, broadcasting, cinema and
television have produced tremendous effect on industry, politics, religion, education,
entertainment home and social structure, means of transportation and communication have
brought social change.
Psychological factors: Psychological factors are important elements in social change. Man
by nature is a lover of change. He is always trying to discover new things in every sphere of
his life and is always anxious for new experiences. As a result of this tendency the most
traditions, customs etc. of every human society are undergoing perpetual change.
War: War is also a cause of social change because it influences the population, the economic
situation and ratio of males to female, etc.

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SocialProcess:
With a society changing as fast as the society found inside America, sociologist found it
easiest to predict changer based on three essential"social processes". These processes are the
causes that result in significant social change. They are discovery, invention, and diffusion.
Discovery:
Discovery is defined as "the process by which something is learned or reinterpreted".
Discovery influences change by causing people to learn new things which may change their
viewpoints, or change their routine to better themselves based off of the new information
found through discovery.For example, when early explorers began to explore the ocean, they
discovered that the Earth wasn't flat, but rather was round. This lead to new maps being
printed, as well as new waterways and trade-routes developing due to new exploration under
the idea that there was no "end of the Earth" to fall off of.
Invention:
Invention is "the creation of something new from previously existing items or processes".
Invention changes society by providing it with new items and ideas which continue to evolve
into easier, more efficient processes. For example, when the airplane was invented, it lead to
faster transportation, and space exploration. Inventions serve as indicators as to how fast a
society will change due to the fact that the ore inventions existing, then the more inventions
can be developed from THOSE inventions, and so forth.
Diffusion:
Diffusion is defined as “the process by which one culture or society borrows from another
culture or society”. Diffusion is widely influenced by the contact that one society has with
another; the more interaction societies have, the easier their cultures will begin to bleed
together. Of course, an element from one culture has to blend well with the life and activities
of another before it is adopted. Diffusion has occurred within America several times, such as
when the English settlers developed new planting and harvesting methods from the Native
Americans; the Native American’s culture provided the settlers with a means of survival, and
therefore the settlers easily adopted their culture.

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Accumulation
In the result of innovation more new elements are added to a culture. These cultural elements
combined with the old elements which results in the process of accumulation. When there is
the invention of new elements combined to the already existing elements, the accumulation
will be greater.
Adjustment
Last but not the least adjustment is the last factor in the process of social change. After
invention, accumulation and diffusion of cultural elements the adjustment of an individual
takes place in that culture. All the cultural elements are interrelated with one another but
when a material change occurs in a culture it bring slow change in material culture. But with
the passage of time the space fills and the adjustment of new elements takes place in that
culture. So, the invention of new element becomes a part of the culture as a result of
adjustment process of social change.
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CONFLICT THEORY
Key Points
 Conflict theory sees social life as a competition, and focuses on the distribution of
resources, power, and inequality.
 Unlike functionalist theory, conflict theory is better at explaining social change, and
weaker at explaining social stability.
 Conflict theory has been critiqued for its inability to explain social stability and
incremental change.
 Conflict theory derives from the ideas of Karl Marx.
Definition of Social Conflict
Social conflict theory is a macro-oriented paradigm in sociology that views society as an
arena of inequality that generates conflict and social change. Key elements in this perspective
are that society is structured in ways to benefit a few at the expense of the majority, and
factors such as race, sex, class, and age are linked to social inequality. To a social conflict
theorist, it is all about dominant group versus minority group relations. Karl Marx is
considered the 'father' of social conflict theory.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
Conflict theory focuses on the competition between groups within society over limited
resources.

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Conflict theory views social and economic institutions as tools of the struggle between
groups or classes, used to maintain inequality and the dominance of the ruling class.
Marxist conflict theory sees society as divided along lines of economic class between the
proletarian working class and the bourgeois ruling class.
Later versions of conflict theory look at other dimensions of conflict among capitalist
factions and between various social, religious, and other types of groups.
Conflict Theory Assumptions
In current conflict theory, there are four primary assumptions which are helpful to
understand: competition, revolution, structural inequality, and war.
Competition
Conflict theorists believe that competition is a constant and, at times, overwhelming factor in
nearly every human relationship and interaction. Competition exists as a result of the scarcity
of resources, including material resources like money, property, commodities, and more.
Beyond material resources, individuals and groups within a society also compete for
intangible resources as well. These can include leisure time, dominance, social status, sexual
partners, and many other factors as well. Conflict theorists assume that competition is the
default, rather than cooperation.
Revolution
Given conflict theorists' assumption that conflict occurs between social classes, one outcome
of this conflict is a revolution. The idea is that change in a power dynamic between groups
does not happen as the result of adaptation. Rather, it comes about as the effect of conflict
between these groups. In this way, changes to a power dynamic are often abrupt and large in
scale, rather than gradual and evolutionary.
Structural Inequality
An important assumption of conflict theory is that human relationships and social structures
all experience inequalities of power. In this way, some individuals and groups inherently
develop more power and reward than others. Following this, those individuals and groups
that benefit from a particular structure of society tend to work to maintain those structures so
as to retain and enhance their power.
War
Conflict theorists tend to see war as either a unifier or as a cleanser of societies. In conflict
theory, war is the result of a cumulative and growing conflict between individuals and groups
and between whole societies. In the context of war, a society may become unified in some
ways, but conflict still remains between multiple societies. On the other hand, war may also
result in the wholesale end of society.
Understanding Conflict Theory

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The conflict theory has been used to explain a wide range of social phenomena, including
wars and revolutions, wealth and poverty, discrimination and domestic violence. It ascribes
most of the fundamental developments in human history, such as democracy and civil rights,
to capitalistic attempts to control the masses rather than to a desire for social order. The
theory revolves around concepts of social inequality in the division of resources and focuses
on the conflicts that exist between classes.
Many types of conflicts can be described using conflict theory. Some theorists, including
Marx, believe that inherent societal conflict drives change and development in society.
Conflict theory looks at society as a competition for limited resources. This perspective is a
macro-level approach most identified with the writings of German philosopher and
sociologist Karl Marx (1818–1883), who saw society as being made up of individuals in
different social classes who must compete for social, material, and political resources such as
food and housing, employment, education, and leisure time. Social institutions like
government, education, and religion reflect this competition in their inherent inequalities and
help maintain the unequal social structure. Some individuals and organizations are able to
obtain and keep more resources than others, and these “winners” use their power and
influence to maintain social institutions.
Class Conflicts
Marx’s conflict theory focused on the conflict between two primary classes. Each class
consists of a group of people bound by mutual interests and a degree of property ownership,
often supported by the state. The bourgeoisie represents the members of society who hold the
majority of the wealth and means. The proletariat includes those considered working class or
poor. With the rise of capitalism, Marx theorized that the bourgeoisie, a minority within the
population, would use their influence to oppress the proletariat, the majority class. This way
of thinking is tied to a common image associated with conflict theory-based models of
society; adherents to this philosophy tend to believe in a "pyramid" arrangement in which a
small group of elites dictates terms and conditions to the larger portion of society, as a result
of outsized control over resources and power.
Uneven distribution within society was predicted to be maintained through ideological
coercion where the bourgeoisie would force acceptance of the current conditions by the
proletariat. The thinking goes that the elite would set up systems of laws, traditions and other
societal structures in order to further support their own dominance while preventing others
from joining their ranks. Marx further believed that as the working class and poor were
subjected to worsening conditions, a collective consciousness would bring inequality to light
and potentially result in revolt. If conditions were subsequently adjusted to address the
concerns of the proletariat, the conflict circle would eventually repeat.

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Evolutionary Theories
Evolutionary theories are based on the assumption that societies gradually change from
simple beginnings into even more complex forms. Early sociologists beginning with Auguste
Comte believed that human societies evolve in a unilinear way- that is in one line of
development. According to them social change meant progress toward something better.
They saw change as positive and beneficial. To them the evolutionary process implied that
societies would necessarily reach new and higher levels of civilization.L.H Morgan believed
that there were three basic stages in the process: savagery, barbarism and civilization.Auguste
Comte's ideas relating to the three stages in the development of human thought and also of
society namely-the theological, the metaphysical and the positive in a way represent the three
basic stages of social change. This evolutionary view of social change was highly influenced
by Charles Darwin's theory of Organic Evolution.
Those who were fascinated by this theory applied it to the human society and argued that
societies must have evolved from the simple and primitive to that of too complex and
advanced such as the western society. Herbert Spencer a British sociologist carried this
analogy to its extremity. He argued that society itself is an organism. He even applied
Darwin's principle of the survival of the fittest to human societies. He said that society has
been gradually progressing towards a better state. He argued that it has evolved from military
society to the industrial society. He claimed that western races, classes or societies had
survived and evolved because they were better adapted to face the conditions of life. This
view known as social Darwinism got widespread popularity in the late 19th century. It
survived even during the first phase of the 20th century. Emile Durkheim identified the cause
of societal evolution as a society's increasing moral density.Durkheim viewed societies as
changing in the direction of greater differentiation, interdependence and formal control under
the pressure of increasing moral density. He advocated that societies have evolved from a
relatively undifferentiated social structure with minimum of division of labor and with a kind
of solidarity called mechanical solidarity to a more differentiated social structure with
maximum division of labor giving rise to a kind of solidarity called organic solidarity.
 evolution = process of change in living organisms as a result of natural selection

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Evolutionary theories assume that there is a consistent direction of social change carrying all
societies through a similar sequences of stages from the original to the final stage of
development. o Also the evolutionary theories imply that when the final stage is reached,
evolutionary theories will end.
Types of Evolutionary theories
UNILINEAR EVOLUTIONARY THEORY:
This theory was proposed by HERBRT SPENCER. The theory contents that all societies
pass through the same successive stages of evolution and reach the same end.
MULTI LINEAR THEORY: This theory was propounded by contemporary social
evolutionist Gerhard Lenski. This theory holds that change can occur in several ways and
does not inevitably lead in the same direction.
The basic assumption of evolutionary theory is that change is the characteristic feature of
human society. The present observed condition of the society is presumed to be the result of
change in the past. Another assumption is that change is inevitable or it is ‘natural’.
It was assumed that the change is basically the result of operation of forces within the society
or culture. Underlying all theories of evolution, there exists a belief of infinite improvement
in the next stage over the preceding one.
All these assumptions can be summarised as under:
1. That change is inevitable and natural.
2. That change is gradual and continuous.
3. That change is sequential and in certain stages.
4. That all successive stages of change are higher over preceding stage, i.e., evolution is
progressive.
5. That stages of change are non-reversible.
6. That forces of change are inherent in the object.
7. That the direction of change is from simple to complex, from homogeneity to
heterogeneity, from undifferentiated to the differentiated in form and function.
8. That all societies pass through same stages of development.

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Criticism of Evolutionary Theory:
 The biological evolution, from which the main ideas of social evolution were
borrowed, provided somewhat clumsy and unsatisfactory answers.
 lack of evidence
 The evolutionary scheme also failed to specify the systematic characteristics of
evolving societies or institutions and also the mechanisms and processes of change
through which the transition from one stage to another was effected.
 Most of the classical evolutionary schools tended to point out general causes of
change (economic, technological or spiritual etc.) or some general trend to complexity
inherent in the development of societies. Very often they confused such general
tendencies with the causes of change or assumed that the general tendencies explain
concrete instances of change.
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CyclicalTheory:
Cyclical theories have been concerned with the repetitious change of conditions, events,
forms andor fashions over a long period of time, although the period of recurzent phases
(cycles) of change would vary. The cyclical theorists believe that societies pass through a
series of stages. However, they do not consider the notion of ending in a stage of perfection
but see them as a return to the stage where it began for further round in a cyclical manner.
Cyclical change is a variation on unilinear theory which was developed by Oswald Spengler
(Decline of the West, 1918) and Arnold J. Toynbee (A Study of History, 1956). They argued
that societies and civilisations change according to cycles of rise, decline and fall just as
individual persons are born, mature, grow old, and die.

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According to German thinker Spengler, every society has a predetermined life cycle—birth,
growth, maturity and decline. Society, after passing through all these stages of life cycle,
returns to the original stage and thus the cycle begins again.
This theory states that society undergoes change in circular manner. Social change takes a
cyclic form, from worse to better, back again from better to worse. Social change is not
always for the better. Societies may grow, advance, and reach peak stage of development, and
then they may stagnate and finally collapse, with the potential for rising again.
Modern society is in the last stage. It is in its old age. But since history repeats itself, society
after passing through all the stages, returns to the original stage, whence the cycle again
begins. This concept is found in Hindu mythology, according to which Satyug will again start
after Kaliyug is over.
The Characteristic of each Stage
First Stage of Cyclic Theory
The society is in the stage of growth, the individuals are not fully united and the creative
leadership is emerging. The people have primary group relation in most of their daily
situations. There is no regular military force and an established state. There is solidarity and
unity among the members of society.
Second Stage of Cyclic Theory
At the second stage of development Ibn-e-Khaldun say as that society becomes stronger in
economic, political, social and in such other fields. The population is not a liability and there
is a strong Government with a well-organized military force. The society is strong to face any
outside aggression, but the people try to extend their political powers over the neighboring
societies.
Third Stage of Cyclic Theory
At the third stage lbn-Khaldun says that the society enters in the process of decaying. The
Commoner starts feeling the taxes as burden. And the rulers and chiefs do not have the real
political hold over an average person. Thus unity and cohesion are slackened. At this stage
the people start thinking individually. There is a decline in the all the social institutions of the
society. Thus ultimately the societies attain the same position from where it started 120 years
back.

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Criticism on Cyclic Theory
Following are the main points of the criticism on cyclic theory of social change
 Historical facts do not very frequently support the validity of this theory
 It is not necessary that every society must face all three stages with regular time interval.
 It is an over simplification because human society is not so simple, clear and sure that it
should wait for the cyclic change.

BPA notes, 4th sem, Social change,full notes

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BPA notes, 4th sem, Social change,full notes